Assembling machine



March 25, 1941. H NE HAL 2,235,934

ASSEMBLING MACHINE Filed March 6, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet ,1

M/ NTUHE -DQQ M Q March 25, 1941. H. LANE ETAL ASSEMBLING MACHINE Filed March 6, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 25, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT orrlcs ASSEMBLING MACHINE Application March 6, 1940, Serial No. 322,556 In Great Britain April 11, 1939 8 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for operating on shoes and is herein illustrated in its application to machines for assembling shoe parts on their lasts preparatory to the pulling-over and 5 lasting operations. An embodiment of the invention is herein shown as applied to a machine of the type disclosed, for example, in United States Letters Patent No. 1,443,288, granted January 23,1923, on an application of W. C. Stewart, 0 and No. 1,602,618, gran-ted October 12, 1926, on

an application of N. H. Knowlton.

An object of this invention is to improve machines of this type while retaining all of the desirable features of the machines disclosed in the above-mentioned Letters Patent.

Machines of this type as previously organized have V-shaped work-engaging abutment memhere which engage the back-seam portion of an upper loosely mounted on a last and are spaced apart from each other heightwise of the upper. These abutment members hold the back-seam portion of the upper against the rear end of the last While fastening-inserting means secure the rear part of the upper to the last.

It has been found desirable to tension the rear part of the upper about the rear part of the last in the assembling operation in order to eliminate any wrinkles or puckers which may be in the upper when the upper is mounted on the last. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide in a machine of the type described in the above-mentioned patents suitable means for tension-mg the rear part of the upper about the last.

With this in view, a feature of the invention consists in the provision in a machine of this type of :a pair of upper-engaging members constructed and arranged to engage and grip opposite sides of the back-seam portion of the upper, said members being movable bodily away from each other by wedging action of the last against them during its heelward movement into the machine, and means being provided to limit movement of said members away from each other in order to cause them to grip the upper firmly against the last. The illustrated mechanism includes means for yieldingly resisting movement of said upper-engaging members away from each other to cause them to exert a tensioning action on the rear part of the upper and means for limiting the heelward movement of the last. Two alternativemechanisms are disclosed for limiting the heelward movement of the last, one of them comprising a fixed abutment which is engaged by the back-seam portion of the upper while the other consists of a stop mechanism for limiting bodily movement of said upper-engaging members away from each other. The illustrated upper-engaging members operate in conjunction with a movable abutment member, said abutment member and upper-engaging members being so constructed and arranged that movement of the abutment member by the heelward movement of the last operates said upper-engaging members.

'I'hese and other features of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the lower part of a machine embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of certain operating parts of the machine and Fig. 3 is a plan view illustrating certain parts shown in Fig. 2,

The invention, as herein illustrated, is embodied in a machine having the same general organization as the machine illustrated and described in the patent to Stewart above referred to andthe patent to Knowlton above referred to. In common with the machine of the Stewart patent, the machine herein illustrated is provided with a jack post III, which carries an invented last on which shoe upper parts are loosely placed. The jack post is swung inwardly to position the last and upper relatively to the operating parts of the machine, and during such inward movement the last is positioned heightwise by a presser foot [2, which acts against the heel seat face of the last or an insole thereon, said presser foot being substantially the same as a corresponding presser foot in the machine of the Knowlton patent. The inward movement of the last and upper is arrested by the engagement of the rear or back-seam portion of the upper with abutment members similar in their general organization to abutment members illustrated and described in the Stewart. patent. These abutment members include a V-shaped metal block 14 at the forward end of a slide l6 mounted in a guideway in a fixed part of the machine. The rear end of the slide it engages the lower part of a vertical rocker lever ill, the upper part of which engages a similar slide 20, which carries novel upper stretching mechanism now to be described.

The slide 20 (Fig. 2) has an outwardly extending horizontal flange 22 through which extends a pin 23 on which are pivoted the rear ends of forwardly extending arms 24 and 26, the forward portions of these arms being spaced apart from each other to an extent somewhat less than the width of the rear part of the last. Each of the arms 24 and 26 carries at its forward end an upper-engaging member or resilient rubber pad 28 which is arranged for frictional gripping engagement with the upper. Each pad is mounted on a metal block 30 having arcuate upper and lower flanges 32 slidably mounted in corresponding grooves in heads 34 of the arms 24 and 26. The arms are located in operative position widthwise of the upper by the engagement of the rear part of the upper with the pads 28. In order that the rocker lever l6 may exert a direct thrust on the last, said rocker lever is so located that the vertical plane in which it operates is in alignment with the longitudinal median line of the rear part of the last. It will be understood that when the rear part of the upper is brought into engagement with the pads, said pads will be located at opposite sides of and substantially equally distant from the plane in which the rocker lever operates, and consequently, said pads will act uniformly on the upper. In order to afford clearance for operative movement of the arm 26 toward and from slide 20, said arm is arranged substantially parallel to the slide 26 for about half its length, the forward portion of the arm being bent away from the arm 24, the latter arm also being bent in order to clear parts hereinafter described. The pads 28 are arranged in the form of a V for engagement with the rear part of the upper at opposite sides of the back seam at a position, heightwise of the upper, adjacent to the overlasting margin. The arms 24 and 26 are yieldingly held against movement away from each other by a spring 36 surroundin a rod 38 which is secured to a stud 46 swiveled in the arm 26 and extends through a stud 42 swiveled in the arm 24, the spring 36 being confined between the stud 42 and a thumb nut 44 on the threaded end of the rod 38. For limiting movement of the arms 24 and 26 away from each other, a rod 46 is secured to a stud 48 swiveled in the arm 26 and extends through a stud 50 swiveled in the arm 24 and carries an adjustable nut 52 which engages the stud 50 to arrest the movement of the arms 24 and 26 away from each other and thus limit the rearward movement of the shoe. For limiting movement of the arms 24 and 26 toward each other and thus determining their rest position, a stop screw 54 is threaded through a tapped hole in the stud 42 and arranged to abut the inner face of the arm 26 (Fig. 3).

As an alternative to the use of the stop nut 52 for limiting the extent to which the shoe can be forced rearwardly between the rubber pads, a thin V-shaped fork 56 (Fig. 2) may be secured to the machine frame and arranged to engage the upper at opposite sides of the back seam just above the points of engagement of the pads 28.

In the operation of the machine, a last having shoe upper parts loosely placed thereon is mounted on the last pin 58 at the upper end of the jack post I0 and the jack post is swung to bring the upper into contact with the V-shaped block l4 and the pads 28. This movement of the jack operates a one-revolution clutch mechanism which controls the power-operated parts of the machine. In the course of the operation of the machine, a hook 60 moves the last heelwardly against the block 14 and the pads 28, said hook being actuated by the expansion of a spring 6| which is power energized during the latter part of the power cycle of the machine as the hook is lifted into its rest position, as illustrated in Fig. 1. During such movement the last exerts a wedging action on the pads, moving them apart and causing them to stretch and wipe the rear part of the upper about the rear part of the last. The heelward movement of the last by the hook 60 is arrested by the nut 52 which limits the spread of the arms 24 and 26, or alternatively by the engagement of the rear part of the upper with the fork 56. The operative may remove the fork if he does not wish to use it. It will be understood that the pressure of the pads 28 against the upper may be varied by adjusting the thumb nut 44 which controls the compression of the spring 35.

Having thus described this invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a machine for assembling parts of shoes upon their lasts preparatory to lasting, the combination with an abutment constructed and arranged to engage the back-seam portion of an upper on a last of a pair of upper-engaging members constructed and arranged to engage and grip opposite sides of the back-seam portion of the upper at points adjacent to the lasting margin, said members being movable bodily away from each other by wedging action of the last against them, means for resisting movement of said members away from each other to cause said members to tension the upper about the last, and means for limiting such bodily movement of said members away from each other.

2. In a machine for assembling parts ol shoes upon their lasts preparatory to lasting, the combination with an abutment constructed and arranged to engage the back-seam portion of an upper on a last of a pair of upper-engaging members constructed and arranged to engage and grip opposite sides of the back-seam portion of the upper adjacent to the lasting margin, a pair of carriers for said upper-engaging members constructed and arranged for movement widthwise of the upper, means for yieldingly urging said carriers. toward each other, and means for limiting movement of said carriers away from each other.

3. In a machine for assembling parts of shoes upon their lasts preparatory to lasting, the combination with an abutment constructed and arranged to engage the back-seam portion of an upper on a last of a pair of upper-engaging members constructed and arranged to engage and grip opposite sides of the back-seam portion of the upper, a pair of carriers for said upperengaging members constructed and arranged for movement widthwise of the upper, means for yieldingly urging said carriers toward each other, means for limiting movement of said carriers toward each other, and means for limiting movement of said carriers away from each other.

4. In a machine for assembling parts of shoes upon their lasts preparatory to lasting, the combination with a movable abutment constructed and arranged to engage the back-seam portion of an upper on a last of a pair of upper-engaging members constructed and arranged to engage opposite sides of the back-seam-portion of the upper, a pair of carriers for said upper-engaging members, a. slide on which the carriers are mounted, and means operable by movement of said abutment for advancing said slide to move the upper-engaging members toewardly to tension the rear part of the upper about the last.

5. In a machine for assembling parts or shoes upon their lasts preparatory to lasting, the combination with a movable abutment constructed and arranged to engage the back-seam portion of an upper on a last of a pair of upper-engaging members constructed and arranged to engage opposite sides of the back-seam portion of the upper adjacent to the lasting margin, a pair of carriers for said upper-engaging members, a slide on which the carriers are mounted, means operable by movement of said abutment for advancing said slide to move the upper-engagin members toewardly to shape the rear part of the upper about the last, and means for limiting such movement of said members.

6. In a machine for assembling parts of shoes upon their lasts preparatory to lasting, the combination with a movable abutment constructed and arranged to engage the back-seam portion of an upper on a last of a pair of upper-engaging members constructed and arranged to engage opposite sides of the back-seam portion of the upper, a pair of carriers for said upper-engaging members, a slide on which the carriers are mounted, means operable by movement of said abutment for advancing said slide to move the upper-engaging members toew ardly to shape the rear part of the upper about the last, and a fixed abutment for limiting such movement of the upper-engaging members by engagement with the rear part of the upper.

7. In a machine for assembling parts of shoes upon their lasts preparatory to lasting, the combination with a movable abutment constructed and arranged to engage the back-seam portion of an upper on a last of a pair of upper-engaging members constructed and arranged to engage opposite sides of the back-seam. portion of the upper, a pair of carriers for said upper-engaging members, a slide on which the carriers are mounted, means operable by movement of said abutment for advancing said slide to move the upper-engaging members toewardly to tension the rear part of the upper about the last, said carriers being movable away from each other to accommodate the toeward movement of said upper-engaging members, and means for arresting movement of the carriers away from each other.

8. In a machine for assembling parts of shoes upon their lasts preparatory to: lasting, the combinationwith a work support movable to advance a last having an upper thereon heelwardly against operating parts of the machine, a movable abutment constructed and arranged to engage the back-seam portion of the upper and power-operated means for moving the work support; of a pair of upper-engaging resilient pads constructed and arranged to engage and grip the upper at opposite sides of the back seam, said pads being movable away from each other in response to a Wedging action of the rear part of the upper against them, and means operated by a movement of said abutment effected by the heelward movement of the last for advancing said pads toew-ardly to tension the rear part of the upper frictionally about the last.

HAROLD LANE. GEORGE HAZELTON. 

